


Ten To One (part 1 of 3)

by batyatoon



Series: Ten to One [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-13
Updated: 2011-03-13
Packaged: 2017-10-16 22:51:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/170247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/batyatoon/pseuds/batyatoon





	Ten To One (part 1 of 3)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [s_k](https://archiveofourown.org/users/s_k/gifts).



"Well, I didn't exactly come straight here. I had a bit of fun, you know, traveled about, did this and that. Got into trouble, you know me ... Got married! That was a mistake. Good Queen Bess. And let me tell you, her nickname is no longer.... _(clears throat)_ Anyway."  
\- The Doctor, _[The End of Time](http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_End_of_Time_\(TV_story\))_ , part 1

"Doctor! My sworn enemy! Off with his head! ... Stop him! Stop that pernicious Doctor!"  
\- Queen Elizabeth I, _[The Shakespeare Code](http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Shakespeare_Code)_

\-----

He doesn't look at all dangerous when he's asleep, Elizabeth thinks, propping herself up on one elbow and studying the face of the man she's married. He hardly looks dangerous when _awake_ , come to that; still half a boy, a smile full of innocent mischief and constant delight in the world around him, concerned with little more than his own entertainment and hers.

She knows better; knows that he may well be the most dangerous man in all the world. In all the _worlds_. Yet she finds she doesn't fear him. She trusts him -- but more, she trusts herself not to allow him to harm her. Or her country.

His eyes open and focus on her, and he grins. "Good morrow, your Majesty."

Elizabeth returns the grin, wryly. "You may say _wife_ , I hope."

"Wife," he repeats as though tasting the word, and not at all as though he's certain he likes it; his eyes are wide and startled. "Good lord, we really did get married last night, didn't we."

"Aye, we did." She taps his nose with the tip of one finger. "In secret and vowed to remain so, but married nonetheless. And if it so falls out that you have forgotten it in the night, I fear you will have to learn it all over again."

"No time," he tells her, sitting up with a grin. "We've got things to do! Places to go, people to meet -- " He's already scrambling to his feet, snatching up the absurd garments he wears. "What do you want to do for our honeymoon, Bess? Anything at all. The past, the future --"

"Anything?" Thoughtful, as she sits up in bed and folds her arms to rest them on her knees.

"Absolutely anything," he beams.

Which is how he ends up trying to explain to her what a _starship_ might be and why this one is named what it is, although she's rather more interested in the origin of the name _United Kingdom_.

"Elizabeth the Tenth," he announces, waving a hand toward the door of the TARDIS. "Said to be the longest-reigning monarch on the British throne. And possibly the best-loved. Successfully brought her people through one of the worst crises in --"

That door bursts open to the sound of explosions like musket fire, and a figure flies through in a sweep of wine-colored velvet to skid across the floor on its back -- on _her_ back -- hands filled with thunder and flashes of fire, and pointing back the way she came.

"Close the door!" the newcomer shouts over the roar of the impossibly tiny guns she's wielding. "Get us out of here!"

To his credit, the Doctor doesn't stop to ask what's going on before he leaps to shut the door. "Where?"

"Somewhere _not here_!" the woman bellows, and fires twice more before the doors close.

The unearthly grinding noise (it's becoming familiar to her, gradually) starts up, and dies away again a moment later. The woman in the burgundy cloak gets to her feet and tucks away her miniature muskets, turning to face the Doctor; she's dark as a Moor, bare-armed under her cloak, and speaks in some barely comprehensible cant. "Bleeders been up in arms since we announced the Landing, but I din't think they'd start with _actual_ arms. Try to jump _me_ , will they! Hullo, Doctor. You're looking different. New face since I saw you last?"

He blinks at her, nonplused, and his gaze goes past her to Elizabeth. The woman turns, following that look, and then smiles and holds out her hand. "Hi. I'm Liz."

Elizabeth stares at her in mild outrage, and then at the Doctor. "You will explain this."

"Ah," he says, "yes. Well. Queen Elizabeth the First, meet ... Queen Elizabeth the Tenth."

Liz's dark eyes widen in turn.

"Blimey," she breathes, "you don't half look like your picture."


End file.
